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BENGALURU: Karnataka Congress MLA Umesh Jadhav submitted his resignation from the state legislature to Speaker Ramesh Kumar on Monday.

As per the report, Jadhav is expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday at an event expected to be attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His resignation will reduce the strength of the Congress-JDS coalition in the 224 member Assembly to 116.

The resignation will also reduce the strength of the house to 223, making 112 the simple majority number needed to run the government.

As per the report, BJP is planning to field Umesh Jadhav against Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge from the Gulbarga seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Sources said Jadhav had committed himself to the BJP during poaching attempts over the past six months.

“His resignation was a predestined conclusion because he had already sold himself to BJP and leaving Congress party for his selfish motives”, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao said.

Jadhav represented the Chincholi constituency and had been elected from the constituency twice-in 2013 and 2018.

Earlier, Umesh Jadhav along with three other MLAs-Ramesh Jarakiholi, Mahesh Kamatihalli and B Nagendra was disqualified by the Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, after they abstained from appearing in the Assembly’s budget session on February 8.

The Congress had complained to Speaker Ramesh Kumar to take action against the four under anti-defection laws.